Fat, as one of the three main nutrients, is an essential part of the daily diet. Oxidation of oils and fats is an important factor affecting the quality of oils. The automatic oxidation of oils and fats is a complete spontaneous oxidation reaction of activated olefin-containing substrates (such as unsaturated oils) and oxygen in the air at room temperature without any direct illumination or any catalyst. The products of oil oxidation not only affect the flavor and color of oil food and reduce the quality of food, but also produce a lot of toxic substances that affect the health of eaters. The peroxide of oil will damage the membrane, enzymes and proteins, can lead to many diseases of aging, and even cause cancer, seriously endangering human health. In order to prolong the shelf life of oils and fats, the addition of antioxidants to oils and fats is one of the most effective means. However, several commonly used synthetic antioxidants have some hidden dangers, which are strongly opposed by the people in some countries and banned or restricted. The research of antioxidants began to turn to the application of natural antioxidants.
Hydroxytyrosol is a natural polyphenol, which has a variety of biological and pharmacological activities and can be extracted in olive oil. Hydroxytyrosol plays an important role in anti-cancer, anti-inflammation, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease, protection of retinal pigment epithelial cells and so on. The molecular structure of hydroxytyrosol not only has phenolic hydroxyl group like other phenolic substances, but also has alcohol hydroxyl group on the ethanol chain connected with benzene ring. Therefore, hydroxytyrosol has excellent antioxidant activity. By controlling the oxidation of many unsaturated fatty acids, exogenous and endogenous oxides and free radicals can be effectively removed. As a food additive, it can promote human health and increase the antioxidant capacity of food. At the same time, hydroxytyrosol is highly hydrophilic.
Dihydrocaffeic acid, also known as 3, 4-dihydroxyphenyl propionic acid, can be extracted and separated from Eucommia ulmoides, Salvia miltiorrhiza, artichoke, Atractylodes macrocephala and Lianqincao. It is a phenolic acid with catechol structure.
In the present invention, dihydrocaffeic acid is modified by the hydroxytyrosol structure to obtain a hydroxytyrosol dihydrocaffeate. Antioxidant experiment shows that the hydroxytyrosol dihydrocaffeate has excellent antioxidant activity and high medical research and application value in the field of antioxidant health products.